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Tag Archives: Do Good

I will confess, I have often felt the word “awesome” is over-used. I had an awesome weekend. My bike is awesome. It would be awesome if I could borrow your pencil. Are those things truly awesome? If we say they are when other words are more accurate, does the word awesome loose its meaning and power?

Then this summer I traveled to a beautiful part of our country called Haida Gwaii. While on our journey aboard the 52 ft sailboat Sölskin we kept a journal called Our Book of Awesome fashioned after Neil Pasricha’s The Book of Awesome in which he zooms in on those specific gems in the day that he calls simple, universal little joys .

Each day at dinner we would talk and then write about the special moments in the day that stood out for us. One day I wrote that it was awesome that I didn’t get seasick; on another I marveled at the beauty of the bald eagle I saw. Capturing with my camera its translucent eyelid as it blinked was awesome indeed. Then there was that time I was able to stand on my tippy toes and reach the perfect huckleberry. Awesome.

And here we are, at the beginning of new school year. We’re about to embark on ten months of learning together. I think we should be on the lookout for awesome. I am convinced it’s everywhere if we just notice it.

Kid President gives us a pep talk in the video below, reminding us that we are all teachers and students. In his silly way, he invites us to think about what we’re teaching the world– and to be more awesome, because “life is school and you gotta show up”.

What do you think of his message? What do you teach the world? What are you learning from the teachers in your life? And what awesomes have you noticed since school started? Please teach us!

Our school is fortunate to host StrongStart, a preschool parent and child early learning program, lead by the amazing Maureen Wagner. Our class has the privilege of being buddies with StrongStart and we look forward to our bi-weekly visits.

Supporting a young person in their learning, helping them to build confidence and trust in new experiences is a great way to Do Good.

For the books we created, we pretended to eat gingerbread cookies by tearing and gluing the parts of the cutout body into each page. So, while playing, we were working on fine motor and language skills.

Helping a buddy tear and glue

Then we read the books with our buddies.

Face to face or side by side

I especially love watching parents and grandparents enjoying the interactions between their children and these lovely 12 and 13 year old students. It’s like watching a community knit itself together.

Students, children and grandparents enjoying each other’s company.

Helping a buddy tear and glue

Students, children and grandparents enjoying each other’s company

We like to finish off with a song that makes everyone smile: Icky Sticky Bubble Gum:

We have the power to do good in the world. Through small deeds of kindness to more profound change, kids and adults can make a difference. Here is our motto this year:

We built this message together, first by designing and colouring puzzle pieces with images of people–young people–making a difference. Some messages are about being honest and kind, some messages are about respectful or responsible action, and some are about caring for animals and the environment.

Once complete, students had to put pieces together–in silence. This involved a lot of gesturing and flapping, and I have to say I was very entertained. They completed the puzzle more quickly than I expected. Here’s what the process looked like: